Before he made his big splash on Saturday Night Live, Murphy honed his standup act in the clubs, developing the brilliant stage rapport that made his 1982 concert film Delirious (and, to a lesser extent, 1987's Raw) an all-time comedy classic. He's been off the road for years, although he's occasionally made a little noise about returning to standup—and these days, taking the mic is apparently on his mind once more, albeit with a few caveats.
"I think about it," Murphy said when asked about resuming his standup career during a 2016 interview. "Eventually I will. But it won't just be standup. It'll be music. It'll be comedy. It'll be stuff from my movies...I've just got to figure out a way to put a show together. Because me just coming out on stage and doing standup, I can't see myself doing just that. I can see having some of that, and then doing everything else. We'll see."
Murphy fans have long fantasized about the prospect of a second act for his standup career, and although it's hard to imagine he'd be anywhere near as hungry for laughs as he was at his legendary peak, the fact that he walked away from live comedy at such a high level—and has been missing in action for so long—would arguably make a tour the most high-profile project he could conceivably take on, even if it wasn't strictly a standup show. With retirement weighing on Murphy's mind, it could also be a wonderful way of bringing his career full circle.
